Thank you, Sakura-chan
by tricksie
Summary: Bloodied but victorious, Naruto looked up to see his two teammates beaming at each other. It looked like they had found love. Then he knew it was finally the end. He smiled weakly as she tended his wounds. It was okay, he wanted it for them too. Yet Naruto also knew the ache that had settled in his chest would never be healed. But sometimes, the end is only just the beginning. NS.
1. Thank you, Sakura-chan

**1 - Thank you, Sakura-chan**

Naruto didn't know a lot of things, but he knew love when he saw it.

And when he turned his head to see Sakura, across the field of rubble, staring down into Sasuke's face, cupping it gently and marveling at the change there, he knew her heart had never truly left her childhood crush.

Sasuke's eyes shined with tears. He breathed a tremulous apology. "_I'm sorry_, Sakura. _So, so_ sorry. For everything I've put you through. _Both of you_—" And Sakura dissolved into tears too, dropping her head to his shoulder. After a moment she looked up, laughing and crying, and smiled across his chest over at Naruto.

Her smile, just then, was brilliant. Beautiful. Like the sun rising. He smiled tenderly back. He wouldn't have missed that for the world….

But her true feelings, the part she couldn't find words to speak, were written on her face. Her childhood love for Sasuke had never diminished. No matter how much time had passed, no matter how much had come between them all.

Things really were going to return to the way they were. Naruto had his friend back. Sakura had her love back.

He'd done it.

He slid his gaze upwards and let the blue sky fill up his view while he listened to Sakura coo soft words of forgiveness to Sasuke and begin to heal his wounds.

Tears slid out of each corner of his eyes. Yes, he had done it. He'd sacrificed his arm to Sasuke, but he'd done exactly what he'd promised her he would do all those long years ago.

He'd never really given up on that promise anyway. It had just come to represent something more. A vow to himself to protect his friends, a mission to pull Sasuke from the darkness that only he knew the depths of…. And as for Sakura? It became the thing that bound them together. Their love for their long-lost teammate.

But as the certainty of his loosing his bond with her settled into his chest, tightening just behind his ribcage until it was single thrumming ache, he realized may have sacrificed something else as well. His heart.

He closed his eyes on the blue sky, pushing out more tears. They ran in bloody trails into his hair. He was happy and hurting, in equal measure. And when Sakura came to him, brushed his hair off his forehead and whispered his name, he almost didn't open them. He knew her grateful expression be another wound he'd have to endure.

But he had never been able to deny her anything.

He looked up and blue was replaced with green. She was beaten and bloodied and more exhausted than he'd ever seen her. But her eyes were perfect and radiant. She hovered above him, smiling, like an angel, and suddenly his injuries seemed less painful.

A green glow encompassed them. The searing ache on his arm where his hand was obliterated by the force of his impact with Sasuke was dulling slowly. How she had more chakra to give was beyond him. But what she had she gave freely. To both of them.

"Just rest, okay?" she whispered. "We can fix your arm. I'll take care of it all, okay? I promise…."

Her hand traced the side of his face and his mind played tricks on him, whispering to believe her. To lean into her touch and nuzzle her hand. To fall asleep inside of that green embrace and never wake up. That he had done it. And she loved him for it—

"You never gave up on me, Naruto." Sasuke's voice was finally free of the darkness that had plagued him for so long. "Not once."

Pulled back to the present, Naruto gulped, throat suddenly dry. "S'my ninja way…."

Sakura smiled down at him through the haze of chakra, and Naruto relaxed even more under her healing touch. But the green light reflected in the edges of her face began to fade. Her chakra was failing. She glanced over to check on their teammate.

Naruto watched her watching Sasuke. The ache in his chest remained, untouched by her healing hands, beyond the detection of even her deepest reaching medical chakra, completely hidden from the entire world.

He ignored it. Because it didn't matter. Not the pain of his injuries, nor the long years of searching for Sasuke, nor the inevitable loss of his one connection to Sakura, leaving him with what only felt like a hole in heart. Looking up at her, he knew he would do it all again. Tomorrow, if she asked him to—

"So what happens now?" There was an unfamiliar note of doubt in Sasuke's voice. "Do you think they'll take me back?"

But Sakura found the words before Naruto could. "Of course they will. We'll make them. We'll face it together! We're your teammates — no matter what."

Naruto nodded in time with her words, his own energy draining out.

Then Sakura's voice was focused on him again. "Naruto, please rest," she said gently. "You've done it. You've saved everyone. You've brought Sasuke home. Now let us take care of you for a while. You deserve it." She brushed down his torn shirt, flicking off the shattered stone and dust. When she spoke again, her voice was thick with emotion. "You're always doing this, taking on so many burdens…."

Fighting the drowsiness that was pulling at him, he caught up her hand against his chest, squeezing her fingers together.

There may not be another chance…. He had to tell her…that doing all this…for _her_…. It was never a burden.

It was a privilege.

He remembered his mother's face, his father's words. And now he understood how they felt….

With all the energy he had left, he summoned a single breath and pulled her toward him.

"Thank you…Sakura-chan…."

Sakura's face broke into a tender confusion.

"Naruto…. You— I— _We _should all be thanking you—"

But it was too late. Her words floated unheard in the air.

His eyelids had slid closed. His mouth was parted slightly, the last syllable of his pet-name for her still on his lips, and his breathing had fallen into a ragged modulation. He had passed out.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> NS multi-chapter story, set at the end of the battle. I'll try to resolve some of the plot points and give the Naruto and Sakura the ending they should have had in the manga. Please read and review!


	2. The Afterglow

_From Chapter 1…._

_With all the energy he had left, he summoned a single breath and pulled her toward him._

"_Thank you…Sakura-chan…."_

_Sakura's face broke into tender confusion._

"_Naruto…. You— I— We should all be thanking you—"_

_But it was too late. Her words floated unheard in the air. _

_His eyelids had slid closed. His mouth was parted slightly, the last syllable of his pet-name for her still on his lips, and his breathing had fallen into a ragged modulation. He had passed out._

**2 - The Afterglow**

Sakura touched Naruto's face again, smoothing down the abrasions and wiping away the tears and blood. She thought about just how much he had changed, and how much _she_ had changed because of him…when a choking cough drew her attention.

She and Sasuke turned their heads in unison to see Kakashi just cresting the hill. His mask was torn over his mouth, but he smothered a sob with his hand, hiding the bottom half of his face from view. Tears sprung to Sakura's eyes at the same time a laugh bubbled up at the irony: How often had Team 7 conspired to de-mask Kakashi? Sasuke chuckled as well, and Kakashi's tears began in earnest at seeing his team alive, together and unified in spirit. He cast a fond fatherly smile over at Naruto before inspecting the damage to their arms. He declared, as Sakura had already determined, that Tsunade could almost certainly mend them back to new again. Well, nearly new.

Sakura set about bandaging Naruto's arm while Kakashi wrapped up Sasuke's. It was painful work, and Sakura was glad Naruto was unconscious. It was hard enough hearing Sasuke's sudden gasps at each turn of the fabric strips torn from her remaining sleeve and the bottom of his white tunic. But there was nothing she could do to help. She had no more chakra left to dull the pain.

"Sakura, you help Sasuke," Kakashi said as he eased Sasuke up to standing. "I'll take Naruto."

Sakura hooked her arm around Sasuke's waist, underneath his good arm, and began the treacherous climb off the crumbled battlefield, over the smashed stone faces of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. Kakashi scooped up Naruto, pressing his good arm against his body and angling his head against his chest to keep it steady.

It was slow going, and Sakura glanced back at them every few paces, stopping when they got too far ahead.

"Look," Sasuke said, nodding his head toward his former sensei as they waited. His warm smile brought a light to his eyes she hadn't seen in years. "If Naruto were to wake up now…."

And Sakura didn't know what delighted her more, the fact that from Naruto's angle if he woke up he would be able to see up through the tear in Kakashi's mask, or that Sasuke felt comfortable enough to make a light of something.

Kakashi caught up and they continued their steady climb, picking their way down toward Konoha.

Sakura was silently mulling the puzzle of her old teammate. Only hours before, Sasuke had been aggressive and untrustworthy. Locked in his rivalry with Naruto…and dead set against her interference.

Now he gently eased down the broken stones beside her, careful not to put his full weight on her and even assisting her when he could.

It was as if he suddenly been scrubbed clean of the darkness that had claimed him for so long. _Had Naruto done this? Or was it just a trick, a ploy to get out of a desperate situation? Or was it possibly a way to get into Konoha to exact his revenge on the village? Or even Naruto himself—_

Sasuke's soft voice startled her. "Sakura…. Thank you."

She nodded from under his arm, but didn't look up. There was nothing to say. His connection to Team 7 had always come through Naruto, not her.

And now it felt like she was returning Sasuke to Konoha for Naruto, in hopes of preserving _their_ bond instead of some connection to Sasuke she fancied herself having. But time had been a harsh teacher. And at some point those feelings which had once seemed as immoveable as mountains had just slipped away, like sand through her fingers. She wouldn't wish them back now, even if she could.

She cringed at the memory of herself, crying and begging for Naruto to fix everything. Never again would she be like that—

"Am I hurting you?" Sasuke peered over at her with concern. Sakura snapped her head up, realizing her expression had caused the mistake.

Sparing a brief smile, she quickly refocused on the ground. "No! I'm just, uh…concentrating. Trying not to fall."

Actually, she didn't know what to say to him. After everything they'd just been through, she realized she didn't know Sasuke at all. Naruto was the one who held their team together. Without him, she and Sasuke might as well be two strangers passing on the road.

And from the vicious things he'd said to her, launching at her with a genjutsu to keep her away, maybe two strangers didn't quite cover it. Although they had combined forces to push back Kaguya's armies, Sasuke still didn't acknowledge her strength, her changes. She knew she was a force to be reckoned with. But Sasuke seemed to harbor a genuine dislike for her, and her alone, that was surprising.

Perhaps meeting again was more like enemies than strangers.

But the Sasuke beside her couldn't have been more different than the one who told her she was just living in a fairy tale, just to hurt her with his cruelty.

Sakura peeked up. Leaning hard on her, Sasuke stared wide-eyed at the landscape in front of them, from the rock-strewn battleground to the vast forest and far beyond it to the tops of the cliffs behind Konoha. It was like he was just waking from a jutsu, as if he'd never seen these sights before in his life. Sasuke stopped and drew in a deep breath.

"Naruto did all of this. He saved me." His voice moved closer to her ear. "And _you_ did too." Sasuke cupped his hand around her shoulder, touching her as gently as if he'd never raised his hand in anger at her a day in his life. Sakura glanced up at him and was surprised to see him smiling down at her gratefully before he turned back at the scene in front of them. "I feel like a burden has been lifted. Like I can…. I can finally come home."

His voice broke on his last words, and Sakura felt tears sliding down her cheeks too, in spite of her distrust. But she didn't wipe them or even look up to see Sasuke's face. She only wished Naruto was awake to hear this. He deserved to hear it from Sasuke's lips. Not just repeated by her.

"I'm going to fulfill Itachi's wishes," Sasuke continued, fist tightening around her shoulder, vowing it to himself and her and the world. "I will pick up where he left off, and protect Konoha, and do what he couldn't do."

Kakashi caught up beside them in time to hear Sasuke's speech. If he noticed the tears shining in Sasuke's eyes, the emotion in his voice, then he discreetly ignored it as well.

They started again, and Sasuke was so passionate about his plans for peace that he talked the whole way back down. Kakashi caught Sakura's eyes once, and she could tell by his smile that they thought the same thing. _Perhaps Naruto had rattled him a little too much in their battle._

But neither said anything. Both were content to walk in silence and let Sasuke spill out all his hopes and wishes until the reached the gates of Konoha.

Only then did he fall silent. His eyes tipped slowly upward.

Even Sakura peered up in awe. They stood in the shadow of Konoha's enormous red gates, now pock marked and charred from attacks. She couldn't remember the last time they were closed and barred. But the gates had done their job in protecting the village. They had held fast.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. At either side, vines arched up over the walls. Sucker roots dangled beyond view of the wall, down into the village.

A deep knot formed in the pit of Sakura's stomach at what she knew they were going to find…. _Bodies._ Civilians and shinobis. Men and women and children, huddled together where they couldn't escape the chokehold of vines. The old fruit-seller on the corner and her neighbor Hayashi-san, they were certainly too slow to get away. And _her parents_—

The gripping fear that Sakura had kept at bay since she'd left Konoha to go war now tore through her, snatching the air from her lungs and turning her blood to ice—

Suddenly the gates lurched forward. Sakura and Sasuke and Kakashi backed away quickly, moving at the edge of the slanting shadows until a flood of sunlight banished the grey completely. Sakura stood blinking into bright streets of Konoha, stomach roiling with dread—

"Welcome home!" "Our heroes have returned!" "It's over!" "We won!"

Two guardsmen threw their arms out to the returning shinobi, greeting them with embraces that almost knocked Sakura off her feet. They surrounded Kakashi and Naruto. They hugged Sasuke and to Sakura's surprise, Sasuke hugged them back.

Around her, down every street as far as she could see, people were standing and hugging one another, pulling down the vines and helping each other out of their cocoon-like wrappings. Sakura and Kakashi walked slowly into the village, determined to get Sasuke and Naruto to the hospital immediately, but they had to part the throng of people drawing toward them when they realized who it was. Villagers who had once scorned Naruto and sworn Sasuke as a life-long enemy greeted the two as if they were everyone's long lost sons. All trace of distrust and hatred had disappeared.

Hands grasped for the two, embracing Sasuke and patting Naruto's still form, and Sakura desperately wished Naruto would wake up to see the faces of the villagers and how much they loved him.

It was slow-going to the hospital, and as the celebration in the streets grew, Sakura begun to worry there might be no one there to help them at all. And waiting for her chakra to rejuvenate might take a while.

She was relieved to find that inside the sliding doors of hospital, life was slowly returning to normal, just like everywhere else in Konoha. The nurses and doctors, and even the patients were all beaming, their wounds seemingly taking a backseat to their sheer joy for life. Sakura stared as even the most dour of the doctors wore a smile big enough to match Naruto's.

She helped Sasuke to a bed while Kakashi eased Naruto into one beside him. When he stood, Sakura leaned closer to whisper, "Um, Kakashi-sensei…. W-what exactly is going on here?"

Kakashi thought for a moment till his tattered mask revealed the outline of a guarded smile. "If I had to guess, I would say there was some sort of toxin in the plant that kept everyone in a passive, dreamlike state. Even though Obito's plan for a dream world failed, the victims might still have been affected anyway. Now they are living a waking dream."

Sakura glanced back at the open door and the flood of passing nurses and doctors. They were hopeful and jovial, arms around everyone as if they were family instead of the standard professional distance adopted by all medical professionals.

Kakashi and Sakura watched it until Kakashi shrugged. "Eh, just enjoy it while it lasts. It is a celebration after all, I suppose."

Sakura nodded, although still in disbelief. However when word spread that the last Uchiha had returned, she was downright astonished. People kept pouring in the door just to speak to him, hug him, tell him how glad they were to see him. They all understood his pain, it was water under the bridge. T1hey were just glad he'd come home. He'd protected Konoha, so he was a hero now. Everyone was full of hope for the future. They would rebuild Konoha together. Make it better than ever before. And then they'd help with the other villages as well. Peace, unity, prosperity. It was all within their grasp.

Sasuke's face beamed as he clasped hands, nodding and thanking people that whom, a day before, he would have sneered at even having to stand next to. And he too was making plans for peace that would have been impossible only a week before. One patient at the hospital, an old woman who was old enough to not only remember the Uchiha clan but have many friends in it, threw her arms around Sasuke's neck. She spoke the names of many of his dead relatives. Names he hadn't heard in years. She said they would be so proud of him. He planted a tearful kiss on her leathery cheek.

Only her ninja training kept Sakura's mouth from falling open. Beside her, Kakashi's eyebrows raised higher and higher surprise.

"What about him," she whispered. "Sasuke didn't get caught up in the jutsu. So why's he acting like one of them?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck in a gesture that reminded her strongly of Naruto. "I don't know," he said finally with a long exhale. "Maybe it has something to do with his battle with Naruto. Maybe it knocked something loose—"

Sakura laughed through her fingers at Kakashi's unintended joke, causing Kakashi to chuckle too.

"I don't mean it rattled his brain," he said with a smile in his voice. "No, I think maybe he and Naruto had to have it out before Sasuke could let go of his anger."

Sakura nodded. This sounded plausible enough. She didn't want to dig too deeply. The Sasuke in front of her was a welcome change from the bitter, hardened shinobi he'd turned into. He had become a stranger to her. And deep down, she never truly believed they'd get him back again.

She looked fondly at Naruto, asleep in a bed of fluffed pillows, blissfully unaware of the noise and commotion around him. She wished he could wake up and see Sasuke's changes. His smile would be the brightest of them all—

Suddenly a cluster of the nurses turned to Kakashi and Sakura, surrounding them with smiles.

"Sakura-san, Kakashi-san, you need to rest and have your injuries tended to…. We insist!"

In very short order, Sakura and Kakashi were ushered into their own rooms, dressed in gowns and tucked into beds. It was a little strange being the patient for a change, especially when the nurses and doctors were almost giddy while going about their duties. But she didn't have long to dwell on it before the realization hit her that the war was really over. They were home. And Sasuke had returned. Everything was going to be different now. A giddy lightness took hold in her chest, and she began to think she might just understand how the rest of the villagers felt. The weight of stress finally lifted, Sakura's whole body loosened, her limbs relaxing under the sheets with each happy breath. She let her eyelids slid shut, but the smile didn't leave her face, even as she slid into a deep dreamless sleep.

###

Sakura didn't know how long she'd been out, if it had been a day or a week, but she'd know the sound of Naruto's laughter anywhere. She blinked into the sunlight and eased up in the bed. Listening to Sasuke's low voice and Naruto's loud guffaw, her face broke into a wide smile.

It wasn't a dream. It was real. They were home.

She tucked her feet into the hospital slippers, wrapped a robe tight around her waist and peek out out of her room to make sure no one was at the nurse's station to stop her. When it was clear, she darted out into the hall. She wanted to see her team first. Only then would she let the nurses look her over.

She shuffled down the polished floor toward the open door that was flooding the hallway with sunlight and laughter.

When she stepped into view, their voices turned louder. "Ah! There she is!" "We wondered when you'd finally wake up!"

Sakura could practically feel the heads popping out at the nurse's station down the hall and quickly stepped into the room before someone saw her.

Sasuke and Naruto hooted with laughter at Sakura's sheepishness — "Hiding in rooms in your bathrobe is not very fitting for a shinobi, Sakura-chan!" — but Sasuke's gaze quickly turned warm with friendship. Naruto's laughter died on his lips. He looked to Sakura, his smile slipping a notch, glanced back at Sasuke who's eyes were still fixed on Sakura, then scratched behind his ear.

"Uh, I gotta go pee."

When he crossed in front of her, Sakura caught Naruto's bandaged hand. "They did it? Already?!"

Naruto looked at her fingers winding gently through his. He watched her pull his hand up between them and stepped forward automatically when she drew him closer to inspect it. Sakura turned his hand over and over in hers before looking into his face, her green eyes smiling up into his. He promptly forgot her question.

"I said, did they fix your arm already?"

"Wha— Oh, yeah." He cleared his throat. "They fixed it. Grew me a new one or something.

Sakura beamed into his face, laughing like they were sharing a joke. "Well, it's a little more complicated than that, but yes, that's the gist of it." She lowered his hand back to his side gently before slipping her fingers out of his grasp, when something sad flickered in his expression. Sakura frowned.

"Naruto, does it hurt?"

He looked caught. "No! It's fine! Really—"

A nurse walked in carrying a tray of meds and fresh fruits, and Sakura cringed, expecting a harsh glare from the middle-aged woman. She was one of the crankiest nurses in the recovery wing. Naruto edged past while she floundered for an excuse. But to Sakura's surprise, the woman gave her a luminous smile.

"Sakura-san, I should have known I'd find you in here!" She deposited the tray on the table between the two beds. "Can't keep you away from your team!"

Sakura sank down on the edge of Naruto's empty bed and watched the nurse coddle Sasuke. She didn't know which was more surprising, the fact that the nurse had turned into a kitten, or that Sasuke was actually enjoying having someone fuss over him.

Naruto slid back into the bed. Sakura smiled back at him, studying him, but all trace of trouble was wiped from his face. She took up an orange and peeled it for him, then while the nurse checked over him, Sakura began cutting up an apple for Sasuke. After a few moments the nurse confirmed that Naruto was progressing nicely as well. They would both be in the hospital for several more days for observation, but after that, they would be cleared to leave.

So Team 7 spent the rest of that afternoon and the rest of the week enjoying their hard-won peace. Visitors came and went almost continuously. Sakura was discharged after the second day, but she stayed with them during all waking hours.

With the happy tone of the sunlit room, it would be easy to think they were all under the afterglow of the jutsu. But sometimes, when Naruto didn't think she was watching, Sakura thought she noticed a change in him. A heaviness that hadn't been there before. She'd talk to Sasuke, laughing with him about some story he'd never heard, and sometimes Naruto's laughter would be a little slow to catch. Visitors would come and everything would be fine, but when talk turned to Sasuke's future, sometimes the smile wouldn't always meet Naruto's eyes.

She asked him about it, quietly, when Sasuke was in the bathroom. It was the only time she'd been alone with Naruto since they'd been back.

"Naruto," she began tentatively, "is everything ok? I mean, not just with your arm…but with Sasuke? Is something bothering you?"

His face turned red but he grinned overly bright. "No!" His voice cracked on the word. "I mean…. _No_, not at all."

The door opened to the restroom and Sakura leaned back, still unconvinced. By the time Sasuke was easing back into bed, someone was knocking at the door again. This time it was Hinata, Kiba and Shino.

The afterglow had changed everyone in some way or another, lifting spirits and leaving behind hopefulness, but Sakura learned that sometimes it wasn't quite equal. The afterglow suited Hinata particularly well, as it had eased her shyness and boosted her self-confidence in a way nothing before ever had. Her open expression lit her face in fresh, dewy beauty. She greeted them all with a bright smile, but it turned downright radiant as she stepped closer to Naruto.

"I'm so glad you're ok, Naruto-kun." Hinata didn't even stammer over his name. Instead she approached him with all the confidence of an old friend.

Kiba and Shino were equally forward, Kiba thrusting his hand into Naruto's good one and shaking vigorously, while Shino actually smiled from the depths of his deep hood.

Naruto grinned back, truly grateful to see these friends. Kiba and Shino stepped over to speak to Sasuke, and though Hinata smiled over at him, she didn't leave Naruto's side. Sakura overheard wisps of their conversation about the battle and the tragedy of Neji's death, and Naruto confided that Hinata really had helped him. Her confidence had given him strength.

Peeking over, Sakura smiled at the beautiful blush that spread over Hinata's cheeks. She knew Naruto's words would encourage Hinata's new found self-esteem.

They all spent the afternoon in pleasant conversation, and when Iruka popped his head in, Team 8 stood to leave. Hinata swept back the curtain of her glossy black hair and promised to come see Naruto again.

True to her word, Hinata spent almost as much time visiting as Sakura did. And though Sakura didn't get to spend much time with Naruto, Hinata's presence blended seamlessly with their days. They listened to Sasuke share stories of his journey, from leaving Konoha to training with Orochimaru, from his battle with Itachi to his time with Madara. Sakura sat in mute astonishment at just how much Sasuke had changed, and glancing over periodically at Naruto she could see he felt the same way. Hinata, still under the effects of the afterglow, listened in rapt attention as if it were all a story. But for Sakura and Naruto it was at times both painful and bittersweet.

Listening to Sasuke's memories was like reliving some of their hardest moments on Team 7, only through Sasuke's point of view. Sasuke's need for revenge was just brushed aside, a minor detail that wasn't even worth mentioning now. But Sakura knew it was the underlying reason driving everything he'd done up until now. She had no answer to where that bitterness and anger had gone, and whether it was truly extinguished, as she hoped it was. All she knew was that understanding Sasuke was the foundation to rebuilding their team. So even though sometimes it was almost too painful to hear, she didn't turn away. And neither did Naruto.

Near the end of their recuperation, at the end of a long afternoon spent in conversation, Hinata rose suddenly and said she was expected at home. She spoke a few quiet words to Naruto and, in a strange reversal, Naruto nodded shyly in response. Then she was gone. They continued talking until Sasuke was summoned for a check-up.

With the absence of Sasuke, the room felt strangely quiet. Sakura dismissed the notion but when she sat down in the chair next to Naruto's bed his eyes darted away, just once, leaving Sakura no doubt that he felt it too. Naruto and Sasuke had had so many visitors that they'd spent almost no time by themselves, just the two of them. Now that they were finally alone, Sakura didn't know what to say. Which was silly, she chided herself, so she rallied to find something to talk about in Sasuke's absence.

But unfortunately all she could find to talk about was him.

"So…what do you think about Sasuke? He's really changed, hasn't he?"

Naruto shrugged. Dropping his gaze to his lap where he was twisting and untwisting the edge of the sheets in his hands.

Before they could slip back into an uncomfortable silence, Sakura pressed on. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like hearing him talk. Even if some of his stories are a bit…hard to hear." Naruto looked away, and she cringed at the uncomfortable direction this was taking. But there were things she needed to know. And they might not be alone again for days….

"So what do you think about how he's changed? Was he like this when you fought him? All…chatty?"

Naruto laughed once then fixed his eyes on the skyline beyond the window. When he finally spoke, his voice was unusually somber. "I think he just needed someone to take his anger out on. I think he'd carried it around for so long, he didn't know how to put it down."

Naruto dropped the sheet and let his hands relax in his lap. "That's what he needed from me. To help him work it all out. So he could get on with the rest of his life." His eyes were round and his face was so serious that Sakura was momentarily surprised. "I guess that was just _my_ part in his life."

The statement hung in the air between them, and Sakura felt strongly that Naruto implied she had a part to play as well. Or maybe she already had. She didn't understand.

"Naruto, I don't know if— "Sakura, I should probably tell you—"

She laughed. "You go first—"

But Shizune appeared at the door with Sasuke. And when Sakura glanced back to Naruto whatever he was going to say was safely hidden behind one of his high-watt smiles. Sakura noticed he carefully avoided her gaze as he watched Sasuke cross the room.

Sasuke eased into bed, while Shizune flipped up the chart. Naruto had had his final check-up that morning. "Uzumaki Naruto," she chirped, "you are cleared to leave! Uchiha Sasuke," she gave him the most maternal look Sakura had ever seen from Shizune, "we'd like to keep you for one more day, just to make sure there are no lingering infections." Sakura had to check her amazement at seeing Sasuke smiling under the coddling.

Sakura rose to leave with Shizune, and Naruto turned quickly away and began quizzing Sasuke about the extent of the remaining injuries. Sakura stopped at the door.

"I'm going home to have dinner with my parents, but I'll be back right after, okay?" Her eyes traced the outline of Naruto's shoulders. He hadn't turned to see her off. She sighed. Maybe she could finish talking to Naruto this evening. Sasuke gave her a friendly wave and Naruto gave her a brisk nod in profile before turning back to Sasuke.

Now she was sure something was on Naruto's mind. Something to do with Sasuke. Something he wasn't telling her. She vowed to find some way to talk to him when she returned.

On the way down the hospital steps she was surprised to see Hinata was just returning. She looked radiant in the golden afternoon light, every bit of the princess she was.

"Hello Sakura-san," she said. Her smile was nearly as brilliant as Naruto's usually were. But it was more than that, as if her heart's desires had been fulfilled. Sakura just smiled back as she passed, wishing she could be even close to that happy. She skipped down the rest of the steps and into the street where people were grinning and waving as they passed, and she wished these days of the afterglow would last as long as they possibly could.

Turning down street after street, it was the same. Everyone looked more than happy…she didn't even know if she had words for it. Like maybe…bliss…. And though she had no way of knowing, she thought it must be the same in every village that was touched by the war. They were all wrapped in the embrace of peace and harmony and unity, if just for a little while.

And maybe some of it was finally rubbing off on her too, because Konoha looked beautiful to her now. More beautiful than she remembered. Everyone was so glad to be home, to be alive. Every day felt like a festival. She had long ago stopped trying to understand it and now just enjoyed it every time she was out.

The people in the streets greeted her as an old friend, whether she knews them or not. Villagers wanted to chat as she passed, usually for a brief greeting and thanks. But it wasn't just for her. All around her villagers were getting to know their neighbors as friends. Doors were propped open and people were welcomed as family, with arms thrown around necks in greeting. Others were busy setting up their businesses again, opening fruit stands and pitching up awnings, passing out samples to whoever is passing. Chatting with friends and customers alike, they all stopped for a smile or wave when Sakura passed.

A little girl outside the bakery peeked around her mother's skirt to point a chubby finger at Sakura. "Is that her?" Her mother nodded, lacing her fingers through her daughter's feathery hair. "Oooo, she's pretty!" The baker, Izumi, waved Sakura over to give and pressed a sack of bean cakes into her hands. "There's some for your _friend_ too!" she said with a wink.

Sakura bowed a thank you, then looked down to wave at the little girl, but she had disappeared behind her mothers skirt again. So Sakura reached into the bag and pulled out a bean cake and handed it to her mother, who graciously accepted it. Sakura glanced back and was happy to see the girl's delight at accepting the gift.

The warmth Sakura felt at that moment made her think this must surely be what the afterglow felt like for everyone else.

Around the corner, Takahiro, the old fruit vendor whom she'd known most of her life called out to her. "We owe all this to you Haruno-san! Thanks to you and your team!" Sakura nodded a thank you and continued going when his wife, Amaya, called out, "When are you going to bring that handsome man of yours around so we can thank him too?"

Sakura waved at their good natured teasing. She curled a lock behind her ear, cheeks burning, but she couldn't hide the smile. She passed a few more women who give her knowing nods, their eyes glittering as if they're in on the secret.

In the block near her house, Shou, the normally terse smithy, called out to her. "You're our very own hero, Sakura-san!" Sakura had to laugh — his greeting was probably more than he'd said to her in the last year! He smiled joyously, turning his round cheeks to a bright apple red. "And bring that fella of yours around! I'll make him some new weapons…on the house! Just the way I used to do for his dad."

Sakura nodded, surprised but grateful for the kind gesture. Naruto would be so pleased. She had no idea that the smith had worked for Minato. She waved at another neighbor and turned onto her lane.

It made her feel so good inside that the village finally recognized Naruto. After all his hard work. They new he was the one who had unified them. After so many years, now _everyone_ saw him the way she did. She had no doubt he would be made Kage soon, if Tsunade was really serious about her threats to retire now that the war was over. She always got a laugh when she said it, but even the afterglow couldn't change her mind once it was set on something.

Sakura skipped up the steps into her house. Her mom and dad, as always these days, were thrilled to see her. Every trip home had been transformed by the afterglow into a delight, like all of her favorite holidays rolled into one. Since she graduated academy, she'd had to work hard for their recognition of her life choice. Every compliment was tempered with their wish for her to have a safer life than that of a shinobi, to not give up so much time at the hospital being a medic-nin. Their neighbors all had children her age, and the comparison haunted their conversations when she came home. The girls were happy in their lives, thinking about boys and shopping and their futures as civilians. The boys were polite, coming around for dates or working hard in their father's shops, building their families' businesses.

Sakura stood out from them. And her shinobi friends were rough and dirty and never had time for civilian cares.

But now, in the afterglow, her parents finally understood what her sacrifices had been for. And they saw that it was worth it.

Over the small plates and sake she only broke out for celebrations, Sakura's mother beamed with pride at how much everyone asked after her daughter. She was a military hero. She was the best young medic in Konoha. They couldn't have asked for a better daughter. Everyone said so. But most of all, they were so proud of her for becoming a kunoichi. She had chosen a path of honor.

Sakura was blissfully happy. After graciously thanking her parents again, reassuring them it was all because they had inspired her to choose a path of responsibility over what was simply easy, Sakura tucked back into her meal. She didn't know her cheeks could actually hurt from smiling so much. But it was perfectly alright. She wanted every day to stay like this. Forever.

"So when can we expect you to bring the Uchiha boy around for dinner," her mother said, looking across the table with a coy expression. "We'd like to meet him, after all."

Sakura choked on her bite of food then laughed hard to cover it up. "What?"

"We'd like to meet the boy who's captured your heart, Sakura," her father said before throwing back his sake cup.

"Wha-What do you mean?" Sakura slowly set down her chopsticks.

Her parents laughed. "No need to be embarrassed! Everyone's talking about it, how you saved his life and brought him back to the village, his home. Did you think no one would notice? You two coming back, together, arm in arm. It's beautiful really. You loved him all this time. You never gave up on him—"

Sakura's mom dabbed a tear away from the corner of her eye. Her dad grabbed her mother's hand and squeezed it. "A lifelong love, eh Mebuki? Just like us?"

Sakura's smile fell, but her parents didn't notice. She wanted to say they were ridiculous and wrong, but they only had eyes for each other. Instead Sakura looked to her plate of half-eaten food…as realizations crashed over her, wave after wave. The fruit vendor's wife had meant _Sasuke_, not Naruto, when she'd called out after her…. The baker had put extra bean cakes in for _Sasuke_…. The smithy had offered to make weapons for _Sasuke_ in the Uchiha fashion, not after the Fourth Hokage….

The girls on the street, whispering behind their hands and smiling big smiles…. They knowing looks of the nurses when they entered the hospital room….

It wasn't about her being a hero. And it wasn't about Naruto—

It was about _Sasuke._

It was suddenly hard to breathe. "Mom, I…."

"I had heard some awful stories about him before the war," Mebuki said, not seeing Sakura's growing distress. "I didn't want to tell you— But to know that he came back to fight for you, to fight _with_ you. You and Naruto have never given up on him. And I'm sure he knows that now. But you, my daughter." She reached over and grasped Sakura's cold fingers. "You've always been so good, so kind and caring. You, of all people, would forgive him and welcome him back with open arms. You would never let him fall through the cracks even though his family is gone, when everything in the world that was his is has been taken from him. But you, you are still there."

Tears brimmed in her mother's eyes. Her father's face was red with sake and emotion. "My daughter," she said, squeezing Sakura's hand, "I'm so proud of you. You are the best medic, the most powerful kunoichi in the war. But I think your love exceeds even that."

"Mom, I…." She gulped once before whispering, "I think I need to get back to the hospital."

"Of course you do," her father said, clearing his throat, while her mother nodded heartily, and Sakura couldn't ignore that they believed it was about Sasuke.

She felt suddenly disoriented as she rose from the table and let her eyes adjust to the low light of the room away from the glare of the dining room light. The sun had gone down and deepening shadows were creeping out of the corners. It was like she was trapped in a jutsu that she was only now just realizing.

At the door she bowed a quick thank you, then ran to the hospital, ignoring the waves and knowing glances of the villagers. Now she knew what it was about. They all believed she was in love with Sasuke.

A cold sweat broke at her temples, but she ran harder.

Naruto…. Only now could she decipher his long looks, and the smiles that didn't quite reach his eyes. He was holding back. And now she knew why.

But hadn't he said, in front of everyone, that she was his girlfriend? Wasn't that enough? She stopped at the corner of a building, grasping the edge and panting while her thoughts raced ahead. But that was during the war. When they were alone. He'd only said it to his father. So maybe it wasn't true….

Her eyes roved over the spotted concrete without seeing it.

Maybe it was a deception just to satisfy the ones you love, not unlike what she'd just done at dinner. Leaving without explaining the complete truth….

She pushed off the building and sprinted to the hospital. She needed some answers. And she needed to clear a few things up.

But once there, she found Naruto's bed empty. It was cleanly made, snow-white blankets folded back over crisp sheets, like he'd never been there. Her mind immediately jumped to the worst—

"He's fine," Sasuke said. She whipped around to see him smiling gently up at her, anticipating her concern. "He's gone to the Hyuuga estate. Hinata apparently worked it all out, and her father invited him to stay. She signed for him and everything."

Sakura could barely process what she was hearing. She turned back to the sterile bed. An unsettling emptiness that was filling her up.

_Naruto went with Hinata. They all think she's still in love with Sasuke—_

"Sakura, is something wrong?"

"No— I'm just…surprised, that's all." Her voice sounded unfamiliar to her own ears.

"Will you stay with me? Just for a little while?"

She blinked once and turned to see Sasuke propped up on the pillows, concern clear in his eyes. He looked younger than she'd seen him in years, the lines of hatred and exhaustion and vengeance erased from his face. This was a Sasuke she'd never known. One that wasn't twisted by revenge. The one that might have been if he'd grown up with a mother and a father, a family and a home.

Now he had nothing.

And when Sakura answered automatically, "Yes, of course I will," it wasn't a lie. She couldn't bear the thought of him alone in an empty room. If she didn't stay, there is no one else who would come for him.

Numb, she slid the stool over, carefully blocking out Naruto's empty bed from her vision, and took up an apple from the bedside table. The knife slid between the flesh and skin with ease, making a perfect long strip that spirals down beneath the fruit.

She knew this wasn't love, not romantically like her mother thought. But some part of her admitted that her mother was right. Sakura knew she would always be there for Sasuke if he needed her. And he needed her now.

"I remember you doing that when we were genin," Sasuke said, a smile in his voice. A thoughtless smile touched her lips in response, but she never lifted her eyes.

Perched on the stool, her back to the empty bed behind her, Sakura ignored the gnawing wish for Naruto to still be there.

"Thank you, Sakura, for everything. I wouldn't be here without you."

Sasuke leaned back against the bed, but not before brushing Sakura's fingers with the backs of his knuckles.

The touch sent a shockwave through her system, jolting her insides and causing the knife to slip and bite into the soft flesh of her finger. She stared, wide-eyed at the bead of blood forming, not even feeling it, but instead only aware of the touch of Sasuke's skin against hers, and that yes…this was really happening…it wasn't a genjutsu she was going to wake from….

There was the delicate clearing of a throat from the door. A young nurse stood there, smiling gently at Sakura and Sasuke as if she hated to intrude.

"Sakura-san, can I see you for a moment." She clutched a clipboard to her chest, and Sakura rose without thinking because a clipboard meant charts and scans and that Sakura's professional opinion was required—

But instead, the nurse held out a pen. "Can you sign for Uchiha Sasuke as his next of kin. He has no one else, and since you two are so close…well, I thought you'd be the best person."

Sakura's hand hovered in the air as she processed the request. How many times had she done this for other families, other partners. Now it was her and Sasuke—

"Oh you've cut yourself! Let me get you a bandage—"

"No," Sakura said, "It's fine. I'm fine." She wiped the blood and healed it with chakra in the same swipe, then she took the pen and clipboard.

There was no sound in the hospital except that of pen scratching on paper. Each stroke of her name seemed overly loud, as if echoing down the quiet hallways before coming back to her ears.

Sakura told herself it was routine, just a formality between teammates, although as the sound filled up the air around her she couldn't remember ever offering it to someone who wasn't married or related. Finished, she passed the pen back and ignored the knowing look in the nurse's eyes.

Sakura walked back across the empty room, wishing she couldn't already hear gossip from the nurse's station in her head, the women standing around clucking about how happy they were for her, what a nice boy he was, and how cute a couple they were going to make. When she started back to work full time, she was going to recommend that all chatter at the nurse's stations be banned. And maybe even outlaw all talking between shifts—

Sakura sunk down onto the stool beside Sasuke's bed, feeling wretched.

Sasuke smiled and sighed, his eyes drifting shut as he sunk deeper into the pillows.

She knew she had no right to be miserable, especially in the afterglow. She had everything to be happy for. Sasuke had returned and seemed genuinely glad to be back. Her parents had finally acknowledged her. They won the hardest battle they'd fought in generations. And by the looks of it, the peace it afforded would last generations as well.

Sasuke's breathing modulated into a deeper sleep. The plate of uneaten apples shifted on his lap. Sakura gently moved the dish to the table and flipped off the room light from the switch beside the bed.

But in the silence of the dimly lit room, Sakura knew something was wrong. She was alone in that feeling though. In the whole of Konoha, maybe in the whole of the ninja world there was not another person who felt so at odds, so burdened with the sinking feeling that she was losing something. Someone. _Naruto…._

And maybe she already had.

Before the war, she'd tried to tell Naruto how she felt, even as she was still coming to grips with it herself. He was the one fixed point in her life and he always had been. So much so that she fully believed it when Sai told her that Naruto loved her.

But she never could have imagined it would end this way—

Sakura wiped a stray tear and folded her hands in her lap.

His words after her confession were still a wound, even now, but she thought that maybe after the war, maybe there would be time then when they could talk properly, not in front of everyone…. She'd choose her words carefully and she'd tell him how she really felt. And maybe then he wouldn't say that he hated her for lying to herself—

But she never dreamed there might be someone else….

Hinata's radiant face suddenly sprung to her mind, and a terrible understanding dawned on her. It was Hinata, not her, that he loved.

Naruto loved _Hinata_.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's smooth face and felt horrible all over again. Everyone believed that she was the true love Sasuke had returned for. But fate was indeed cruel. In front of her was the one she'd loved so desperately as a child. But now, only when all hope was lost, did she realize the true depth of her feelings for Naruto.

As the whole world celebrated around her, Sakura bent her head. In the darkened room she let the tears slide down unchecked.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

Thank you for the faves, alerts and reviews! Sorry it took me a while for the second chapter, but I wanted to makes sure I had enough of this fic written to know where I was going with it. And I do! So, I'm continuing this story as a different version of the ending. Some themes will be used, some discarded. I will try to tie things up nicely, but I also want it to be its own story, with its own suspense, development and resolution. So it won't just be tidy epilogue to the manga. In this story, as in real life, the characters will be presented choices between things the've always wanted, and things they know are best for them or those around them.

Some things in this fic are different, obviously. The biggest being Sasuke's attitude when he comes back, and the villagers still being in a blissed out state by the toxins. The is, hands down, the biggest obstacle to rewriting the ending. Why does Sasuke suddenly change? And why doesn't everyone want to kill him anyway, in spite of his supposed changes? So the afterglow buys a little more time for the transition. And another change is in Sakura's parents. I know they are very well characterized in The Road to Ninja movie. They seem to be lovable, goofy and accepting. But I wasn't feeling it here, so they ended up being written differently. Hope this doesn't bother too many people. They won't have a great impact on the story, so it won't come up again. I just wanted to show some of Sakura's personal struggles, which were much more normal compared to Sasuke and Naruto. I think that's it... Anyway, hope you enjoy! Please read and review!


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